A 192-m² apartment with a courtyard/garden and a cellar,
in the heart of Uzès, in a 16th-century noble dwelling listed as a historical monument
in the heart of Uzès, in a 16th-century noble dwelling listed as a historical monument
Uzès,
GARD
languedoc-roussillon
30700
FR
Location
This noble dwelling with an elegant Renaissance style stands just a stone’s throw from the Place aux Herbes and the Duchy, in the heart of the historical city of Uzès, in which France’s first ‘conservation area’ was set up, in the heart of the Gard area. The municipality, with a population of 10,000, three junior high schools, a senior high school, a hospital and many shops, is famous for its gentle lifestyle, several hundred-year-old weekly market, boutiques and the aristocratic allure of its architectural heritage. The town stands on a rocky outcrop, surrounded by vineyards, olive groves and garrigue heath, forming the Uzège, the name for the sector surrounding Uzès.
Nimes and Avignon (the first of which has an airport while high-speed TGV trains can be taken from the stations in both) are respectively 30 and 45 minutes away. The major roads and motorways can be reached in less than 20 minutes.
Description
The four-storey townhouse in which the apartment is located boasts a sober ashlar facade punctuated by slightly arched or rectangular openings. The original antique style décor, the staircase tower and period mouldings within it undoubtedly earned the edifice its status as a noble residence in the 17th century as well as its listing as a historical monument. The entrance leads into a trapezoid Renaissance inner courtyard with four sides of similar appearance. It is punctuated by several windows adorned with wrought-iron defensive grating on the upper floors. The first floor boasts a sumptuous décor of sculpted pilasters adorned with termae figures and enigmatic busts that serve as supports for the entablatures.
On the old ground floor of the same style, all that remains is a Corinthian entablature with sculpted belt courses incorporating friezes of acanthus leaves. The original mullion windows were replaced during the 18th and 20th centuries by more ample glazed openings, combining the characteristics of the various periods represented. As a result, fanlight windows with baroque-style arabesque-décor wrought-iron gratings make up the exterior protection for the resolutely modern metal-framed windows and doors in the openings overlooking the courtyard/garden.
The house’s stone staircase, with a baluster-adorned balustrade typical of the Renaissance style, culminates in a blaze of glory beneath a ceiling boasting a fresco painting depicting the cardinal points.
The apartment on the building’s first level also possesses a cellar, which can be reached via the townhouse’s communal hall. The former formal reception lounge on the ground floor is today the property’s living room and still boasts door lintel and fireplace trumeau panel decorations, incorporating 17th-century trophy motifs with various features. The door lintel décors painted with views of the countryside around Uzès have been preserved, though not all the mouldings and wood panelling were conserved. The committed choice of incorporating original features in a hyper-modern restoration that respects the construction materials’ exceptional quality is especially successful, particularly in the apartment’s kitchen, with its immense four-arched vaulted ceiling, the vestiges of the medieval Cantou fireplace and its ultra-technical and minimalist fittings, making it a fine illustration of how combining heritage and modernity can produce the best.
On the old ground floor of the same style, all that remains is a Corinthian entablature with sculpted belt courses incorporating friezes of acanthus leaves. The original mullion windows were replaced during the 18th and 20th centuries by more ample glazed openings, combining the characteristics of the various periods represented. As a result, fanlight windows with baroque-style arabesque-décor wrought-iron gratings make up the exterior protection for the resolutely modern metal-framed windows and doors in the openings overlooking the courtyard/garden.
The house’s stone staircase, with a baluster-adorned balustrade typical of the Renaissance style, culminates in a blaze of glory beneath a ceiling boasting a fresco painting depicting the cardinal points.
The apartment on the building’s first level also possesses a cellar, which can be reached via the townhouse’s communal hall. The former formal reception lounge on the ground floor is today the property’s living room and still boasts door lintel and fireplace trumeau panel decorations, incorporating 17th-century trophy motifs with various features. The door lintel décors painted with views of the countryside around Uzès have been preserved, though not all the mouldings and wood panelling were conserved. The committed choice of incorporating original features in a hyper-modern restoration that respects the construction materials’ exceptional quality is especially successful, particularly in the apartment’s kitchen, with its immense four-arched vaulted ceiling, the vestiges of the medieval Cantou fireplace and its ultra-technical and minimalist fittings, making it a fine illustration of how combining heritage and modernity can produce the best.
The 17th-century apartment
It is situated on the townhouse’s ground floor and overlooks the courtyard/garden through five vast, south-facing French windows.
After the entrance, an L-shaped corridor with old cast flooring and a striking niche in the wall adorned with a large, pietra dura and bronze fingerbowl, leads to the living room, which was the former reception lounge. It has a ceiling height of 6.8 metres, 60 m² of floor surface and boasts a marble fireplace with acanthus decorations, a gilded trumeau panel with plasterwork, a painted door lintel, wood panelling and mirrors, all highlighted by the sober white walls. The floor paved with square grey slate tiles has been restored identically to the original one. The lounge, which opens onto the apartment’s courtyard/garden via two French windows topped by tall, four-paned, fanlight windows, leads to a shower room and a bedroom on the mezzanine via a door concealed in the cupboards.
The corridor then leads to two bedrooms and the medieval era vaulted kitchen, which connects with the paved courtyard and its foliage via a glazed patio door. The first bedroom boasts a vaulted stone ceiling, as in the kitchen, and overlooks the townhouse’s inner courtyard via small-paned window protected by iron grating. Lastly, the corridor leads to the master bedroom with an en suite shower room, walk-in wardrobe and storage space. It opens onto the courtyard/garden via a French window with a glazed fanlight window. It has exposed ashlar stonework as well as a floor paved with black and white Pyrenean marble.
The courtyard/garden
It is surprising to find a genuine enclosed garden a short distance from the Place aux Herbes, whose light-yellow facades pay witness to the splendour of the Duchy’s past. Although it is of modest size, this courtyard/garden, paved with regularly shaped stone slabs, boasts two wall-mounted fountains embodying the essence of Uzès architecture. The courtyard/garden overlooked by the ‘tour du roi’ (the king’s tower) is a genuine outside living space, protected from the hustle and bustle of the duchy’s narrow streets, in which each detail contributes to the place’s harmony. The both luxuriant and contained vegetation is formed of evergreen ivy and shrubs hugging the wall made of Vers stone, the same that was used to build the Pont du Gard aqueduct. The enclosed garden forms a haven of peace and coolness during the hottest months of the year. The gentle light changes throughout the day and bathes the apartment’s rooms in light.
The cellar
It can be reached by the townhouse’s hall and dates from the Middle Ages. It is made up of an entirely vaulted, approximately 40-m² room with a rammed earth floor.
Our opinion
Living in the heart of Uzès is a privilege, all the more so since despite being plentiful, the finest apartments rarely come onto the property market. The excellent quality renovation conducted with the utmost respect for the beautiful original features makes this a fine illustration of restoring heritage, combined with hyper-modern comfort shaped from materials that are just as noble as those of the past. Both the apartment and townhouse in which it is located boast shapes, materials and colours from distant different eras, in brightness and minerality that form a harmony that is as understated as it is refined.
It is an ideal property for contented single people or happy couples intent on making this cosy architectural gem a place of their own, centred on the peacefulness of its inner courtyard/garden, which is nonetheless a stone’s throw from the gentle hum of the duchy’s everyday life.
890 000 €
Fees at the Vendor’s expense
Reference 640426
| Land registry surface area | 192 m² |
| Total floor area | 191.45 m² |
| Number of rooms | 4 |
| Ceiling height | 6.8m dans le salon |
| Reception area | 64 m² |
| Number of bedrooms | 3 |
| Possible number of bedrooms | 3 |
| Surface Cellar | 30.01 m² |
| Surface Garden | 68.32 m² |
| Surface Store room | 6.4 m² |
| Number of lots | 21 |
| Annual average amount of the proportionate share of expenses | 2366 € |
French Energy Performance Diagnosis
Information on the risks to which this property is exposed is available on the website: www.georisques.gouv.fr
Share
NB: The above information is not only the result of our visit to the property; it is also based on information provided by the current owner. It is by no means comprehensive or strictly accurate especially where surface areas and construction dates are concerned. We cannot, therefore, be held liable for any misrepresentation.
